AD ORIENTEM versus VERSUS POPULUM

Shawn Tribe's post at NLM can make you think on certain terminologies. "...They can either re-enforce truth or they can potentially distort it." That is, of course, dependent on which point of view you're looking at things.

Same thing goes for the terms ad Orientem and versus populum. Of course, ad Orientem (to the East) on one front means facing the Lord with everybody else, while the other front tries to downplay it by saying "the priest has his back to the people". A similar situation with versus populum (facing the people). One front will take it as a positive: the priest's dialog face-to-face with the people, while the other front will say "the altar has become a stage". In the case of the latter, I've known many a priest over my quarter-century as an organist who have done just that - turn the altar into a stage.

Read on. It's an excellent read. Also, check out Diane's Te Deum Laudamus blog. You can usually find a good share of photos of Mass at Assumption Grotto in Detroit - Novus Ordo Missa done ad Orientem, with class!

Peace,
BMP